Most of the hard information is being kept under wraps for the cover story, but here's some declassified intel for you: Several standout features that defined Battlefield 2 return to the fold, including 64-player multiplayer on PC, jets, and the ability to go prone.

Battlefield 3 allows you to feel the full impact of battle like never before. Powered by Frostbite 2, the next generation of DICE’s cutting-edge gaming engine, Battlefield 3 delivers spectacular visuals, earth-shattering destruction and real as hell combat gameplay providing a dramatic immersive First Person Shooter experience. One moment you may be marching down a hilltop listening to the hypnotic sound of a firefight in the distance or admiring the way the light reflects off the smoke plumes of ground to air missiles rising from the city you’re about to engage. The next you’re on an urban street, surrounded, claustrophobic, fighting for your life and looking eight ways at once with all your senses on high alert, chilled at the knowledge that the building you’re hiding behind can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Welcome to Battlefield 3.

Furthermore you may pull injured players from the line of fire and use even elements of the terrain as stand for your weapon

New info from GameInformer Article.

-Aiming for CY Q4 2011 release-Concept for BF3 has been in the works for years, waiting on proper tech to seamlessly come together-Frosbite 2.0 is the culmination of this tech, entirely re-written-Lighting sounds neat, one "probe" contains more lighting information than an entire BFBC2 level.-Level destruction is going to be "believable" but basically everything is destructible.-Character animations powered by ANT, what EA Sports uses.-AI characters and multiplayer characters have different animation sets-No more "gliding" animations that look off, animation realism is a focus-Captured their own war audios (bullets, tanks, helicopters, etc) at different distances to ensure realism-Better audio cues for certain actions, more easily able to listen for threats-Plan on better, more immediate post release content-More unlocks than BFBC2-Dice trying to find a good balance between customization of your character and not having "pink rabbit hat(s)"-4 classes-Will talk about squads "later"-Looking into a theater mode but can't talk about it-Will have co-op-There will be a kill-cam but it can be turned off-BF3's team is almost twice as big as the team for BFBC2-They want the pacing of the single player mode to be balanced, with highs and lows. Makes the comparison to a song vs a guitar solo.-Part of the single player mode takes place in Sulaymaniyah - Iraqi Kurdistan.-"f***" will be used often, so M rated for sure-

Spoiler

There will be an earthquake in a level. The destruction sounds very impressive. 7 story building collapses, looks very well done

-Significant narrative that goes with the SP mode-More than one setting, you're not in the middle east for the whole game-PC version is lead version-Why 64 players for PC only? No complains from the console crowd.-No mod tools at release. Maybe none down the line either. Frosbite 2.0 is complex and mods tools would have to be dumbed down, so does Dice really want to put their time to that or would it be better spent elsewhere?-Original story, not based on Bad Company at all.

At the Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo (or C2E2), DICE had a special booth set up showing off new footage of the hotly-anticipated Battlefield 3. Some new information was gleaned from staff manning the booth regarding the scale of the maps on both console and PC versions, as well the melee combat system that the game will be implementing.

According to DICE the 64-player maps that PC players enjoy will indeed be scaled down for 24-player console versions, ensuring a consistent experience rather than running around on an empty map. To account for this, aircraft will have a larger fly zone than players on the ground are able to traverse, giving them the room they need rather than boxing them into the same smaller space.

A demonstration of the game revealed a complex melee fighting system, with both left and right handed punches, blocks, and the ability to grab and throw enemies. With more options than a simple knife-stab, melee combats with 64 players could be more exciting than ever.

I think I'll end up getting this. I played BF2 on 360 a lot before COD4 and its sequels came along. I've been finding Black Ops kind of tedious lately, so going back to Battlefield will make a nice change. Not sure whether I'll get it on 360 or PC though...

I would just like to say one last time. A battlefield forum is appropriate.

This. Why is the Street Fighter forum that no one has posted in for three months still there?

Also, BC2 had a pretty weak single player compared to the first IMO. I felt the characters were just far too serious compared to the original.

The first was more comedical but no where near as engaging. It was too open for the style of gameplay it had and apart from the comedy there wasn't much to care about. It was no where near as enjoyable as the MP either which just made it hard to play more of once I started online. BC2 just felt like it had a much better story and level design and it didn't feel like it was totally overshadowed by the MP, even if the MP was all you play once you finished it It is hard to describe entirely I guess but I still think it was a huge improvement over the first.

It definitely was a huge improvement over the original. The online is so much more better. I just didn't enjoy Bad Company 2 being a serious game, though. Most of the comedy was stripped away to make a rather boring story.

But then again, Battlefield is known for it's online, but not for it's single player.

There's good and bad reasons for it imo. It can make it sometimes silly just constantly hiding and regenerating but also nothing as annoying as being stuck at a hard checkpoint in a game with only a small amount of health and no healing.

There's good and bad reasons for it imo. It can make it sometimes silly just constantly hiding and regenerating but also nothing as annoying as being stuck at a hard checkpoint in a game with only a small amount of health and no healing.

There's good and bad reasons for it imo. It can make it sometimes silly just constantly hiding and regenerating but also nothing as annoying as being stuck at a hard checkpoint in a game with only a small amount of health and no healing.

I was talking multiplayer actually.

Well for MP I think it is kinda good, I mean sure there is medics but if they are useless and you didn't have regenerating health, you would be f***ed. Medics would probably be a bit unfair healing themselves too.

There's good and bad reasons for it imo. It can make it sometimes silly just constantly hiding and regenerating but also nothing as annoying as being stuck at a hard checkpoint in a game with only a small amount of health and no healing.

I was talking multiplayer actually.

Well for MP I think it is kinda good, I mean sure there is medics but if they are useless and you didn't have regenerating health, you would be f***ed. Medics would probably be a bit unfair healing themselves too.

But medics encourage teamwork, which is the whole point of Battlefield.

Not having regenerating health will put emphasis on working with your squad and not just going ULTIMATE RAMBO ONE MAN ARMY.